The Vice Chair of the Joint Select Committee looking into the efficiency of the Traffic Management System in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. David Lee, has sought answers on why stop-and-check exercises are often conducted during peak hours, particularly at the start of the school term.
In response, Commissioner of Transport Clive Clarke said that his department is ‘mindful’ of the inconvenience that these stop-and-check exercises cause.
“On the Commissioner aside, it is something we exercise due care and we try to avoid basically, but we know sometimes there are, it is necessary that we carry out checks in terms of validation because we have seen a high number of persons who continue to drive on the nation’s road with documents that are not properly – I want to say it is not properly registered, by that I mean in the context those documents are expired, there is no inspection, and that sort of thing.”
Mr. Clarke did not directly justify the timing of the exercises but said they are currently necessary. He added that he is aware such operations are rare in other countries, especially on major roads, and expressed hope that the need for these initiatives could be reduced in the future.
“There is more or less empowering us to move to a mechanism by where we could have a different approach to these exercises in terms of using technology, that of using detection systems to check whether the vehicle is inspected, to check whether the vehicle is speeding and so on, as opposed to put manpower on the highway to block the nation’s highway.”